Will legal challenges keep the Biden administration from ending Title 42?

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Two thousand miles from the U.S. and Mexico border, the fight over immigrant rights spills out onto the streets of Wisconsin.

“Before Title 42, the United States was respecting international and national human rights law in allowing people to come and to be able to process their asylum request,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of Voces de la Frontera which translates to Voices of the Border.

Earlier this month, the non-profit organization held a two-day strike in Madison and Milwaukee to highlight the contributions of the Latinx and the Immigrant community.

Impacted voices who are waiting to see what the future of Title 42 is.

The public health order was invoked in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump.

On April 1, President Joe Biden announced his administration would end the order on May 23.

But during a news conference on April 28, Biden told reporters, “We had proposed to eliminate that policy by the end of May... The court has said we can’t so far, and what the court says, we’re going to do.”

A Louisiana federal judge blocked the conclusion of the order in late April.

Supporters of the legal setback include Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.). Grothman is leading a group of 53 Republicans calling on the Biden administration to keep Title 42 in place. By phone, Grothman told the Washington News Bureau, “I was glad that it’s blocked for now... If we get rid of Title 42, there will be a significant increase in the number of people coming here.”

Late last month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified in front of Congress on how the Biden administration plans to deal with the anticipated surge of border crossings.

Mayorkas said the plan includes more support for border operations which he said by May 23, will be equipped to hold nearly 18,000 non-citizens: up from the previous 13,000.

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